SalmonChile president: “We are not in a race against Norway”

Arturo Clement, said the he wanted Chile to become the most sustainable salmon farming country in the world.

The president of the country’s salmon-producers association talked to SalmonBusiness was in London to talk at this year’s Aquaculture Innovation Summit in London.

“We hope to be profitable and sustainable,” said Arturo Clement, adding that the industry is focusing on growth within the US markets. He said that a new body called “The Chilean Salmon Marketing Institute” is currently being set up to focus solely on bringing more of Chile’s most prized export to US dinner plates. Clement revealed that post-US strategy, they will be focusing on Russia, China and Japan.

The former general manager of salmon farming firm Multiexport Foods and the founder of SalmonEx and DataSalmon, said the industry had challenges ahead, such as Marine Harvest’s huge escape but claimed that Chile’ has had “one of the lowest rates of mortalities in years”. But he acknowledged “there are still risks” and that the industry had a close relationship with authorities discussing regulation.

“We are not in a race against Norway” said Clement when asked by SalmonBusiness if he wanted Chile to surpass the Nordic country in terms of production, “but we aim to be the most sustainable in the world,” he added.

Looking ahead, Clement said that there was an issue in regard to licences “there are currently 1300 licences but we are only using 350-400.” He said that he was working with authorities to try and merge licences to make then much more efficient in the longterm.